Golf ball retriever



Jan. 14, 1969 A, s rr I 3,421,788

I GOLF BALL RETRIEVER' Filed Aug. 15, '1967 INVENTOR. E A wwmv A. 67707;

United States Patent laims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE There is herein disclosed a golf ball retrieving tool comprising an extensible shaft having a handle on one end and a ball gripping device on the other end.

Summary of invention This invention relates to a golf ball retrieving tool of the general type shown in US. 1,723,091; US. 2,549,257; and US. 3,038,751, for example. The invention provides a new and improved gripping device as well as new and improved extension shaft mounting means. The gripping device is in the form of a simple three-piece stamping or the like comprising a pair of identical oppositely facing gripping arms having spring finger portions attached to an extensible shaft and supporting jaw portions defining a ball pocket therebetween and being movable to an open ball receiving position against the bias of the spring fingers. A swingable trigger is mounted between the gripping arms and is engageable with the spring finger portions in the ball receiving position to hold the jaw portions open against the bias of the spring finger portions. Trigger actuating means in the form of a. ball engaging abutment plate portion is integrally formed on one end of the trigger and located in the ball pocket between the jaw portions in the open ball receiving position. As a ball is located between the jaw portions, it engages the abutment plate portion and causes the trigger to swing out of the ball pocket and to disengage from the spring finger portions whereupon the spring finger portions move toward one another and carry the jaw portions into gripping engagement with the ball. The extension shaft mounting means is in the form of a plastic insert having a generally cup shape with a cylindrical base portion frictionally retained in the end of a hollow extensible shaft and with an outwardly flared lip portion extending beyond the side surface of the extensible shaft into slidable frictional engagement with the interior surface of a hollow support shaft in which the extensible shaft is slidable.

Brief description of drawings FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a golf ball retrieving apparatus incorporating the inventive features;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the gripping device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view, partly in section, of the apparatus shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the lines 4-4 in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the lines 55 of FIG. 4.

Detailed description Referring now to FIGURE 1, apparatus for retrieving a golf ball or the like is shown to comprise a support shaft 12 having a handle 14 On one end and a necked down portion 16 at the other end. An extensible shaft 18 is adjustably slidably supported in shaft 12 and carries a ball gripping device 20. I

As shown in FIGS. 2-3, the ball gripping device comprises a pair of identical oppositely facing gripping arms Patented Jan. 14, 1969 22, 24 formed from sheet metal by a stamping operation or the like. The thickness of the sheet metal is substantially uniform throughout and of a size providing sufficient rigidity for the intended use while also providing spring-like characteristics as will be hereinafter described in detail. Acctaching means are provided at one end of the arms in the form of elongated narrow width base portions 26, 28 which have a width approximately equal to the diameter of passage 30 in shaft 18. Base portions 26, 28 are fixedly mounted in face-to-face abutting relationship, as by welding, and secured in passage 30 by suitable fastening means 32 such as a rivet or the like. Side edges 34, 36 are located closely adjacent the inside surface of the shaft so as to prevent turning of the ball gripping device.

Jaw means 38, 40 are provided at the end of said gripping arms opposite the base portions and are connected to the base portions by spring finger portions 42, 44. Relatively short first sections 46, 48 of each spring finger p01"- tion are bent outwardly at the end of the base portions to space outwardly diverging central sections 50, 52 which are connected to the relatively widely spaced jaw portions by connecting sections 54, 56. The arrangement is such that the jaw portions 38, 40 normally extend toward each other in a convergent manner and are more closely spaced than shown in FIG. 3 wherein the jaw portions have been moved to and are being held in a ball receiving position against the bias of the spring fingers. In the ball receiving position, the jaw means extend substantially parallel to one another and to the base sections 26, 28. When the restraining force is removed with ball between the jaw means, the spring fingers move the jaw portions into gripping engagement with the ball in a gripping position intermediate the ball receiving position and the normal unstressed position.

Jaw portions 38, 40 are provided with ball seats 58, 60 formed by circular aligned openings 62, 64 and out-turned circular flanges 66, 68. In the ball receiving position, the jaw portions form a ball receiving pocket larger than the ball by being held apart a distance greater than the width or diameter of the ball. When the jaw means have moved to the gripping position, they form a ball pocket the same size as the ball which protrudes into both openings 62, 64 and is held by the surrounding seats 58, 60 which are then spaced apart a distance less than the width of the ball.

Jaw holding trigger means 70 are provided to hold the jaw portions in the ball receiving position until a ball is located in the ball pocket between the jaw portions and in alignment with the openings 62, 64. In the preferred embodiment, the trigger means comprises a swingable member mounted between and supported on the arms 22, 24. The trigger member swings between the arms in a direction transverse to the direction of movement of the jaw portions. Thus, the trigger member is movable in either direction and a pair of opposite access openings to the ball pocket are provided. A ball engaging abutment portion 72 is located substantially centrally of the ball pocket and is connected by an elongated narrow width intermediate portion 74 to a support portion 76 located between arms sections 50, 52. Opposite outwardly extending support legs 78, 80 extend through opposite aligned support apertures 82, 84 in arm sections 50, 52. Retaining tabs 86, 88 extend transversely beyond the adjacent edges of the support apertures in overlapping abutting engagement with the adjacent side surfaces of arm sections 50, 52. The arrangement is such as to provide cooperating bearing surfaces on the support legs and on the adjacent edges 90 of apertures 82, 84 to swingably support the trigger for swinging movement in either direction.

Holding means are provided for holding the arms in the ball receiving position and for releasing the arms for movement to the ball gripping position when a ball is properly positioned in the ball pocket. The arrangement is such that the arms are not released until the ball is properly positioned. Furthermore, sulficient resistance to movement of the trigger is provided to enable the grip ping device to be maneuvered relative to the ball without prematurely releasing the arms before the ball is properly positioned. Nonetheless, the holding means is simple and requires no additional parts it being integrally formed on the trigger and the arms by provision of inwardly deflected tab members 96, 98 integrally connected along one edge to the arms. The inner edges of the tabs form abutments engageable with opposite sides of the central position of the trigger as at 100, 102. Tabs 96, 98 extend equally on opposite sides of the trigger in the ball receiving position and have a length so as to prevent closing of the arms until a ball is located in the ball pocket in alignment with the jaw seats 58, 60 and jaw openings '62, 64. It will be seen that the provision of circular jaw seats and openings permits a self-centering action as the jaw arms close and thus provides a certain margin of error.

Another feature of the present invention resides in the manner and means of connecting the extensible shaft 18 to the support shaft 12. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, shaft 18 is a tubular cylindrical member having an outside diameter approximately equal to the inside diameter of necked down portion 16 so as to be slidable therethrough. The inside diameter of the tubular cylindrical support shaft 12 is substantially larger than the outside diameter of shaft 18 as indicated by clearance 106. Retaining means 108 in the form of a one-piece plastic plug-like member is fixedly mounted in the end of shaft 18 and is designed to prevent inadvertent removal of shaft 18 from shaft 12 and to hold the extensible shaft 18 in any adjusted position relative to support shaft 12. Plug 108 is formed from plastic material in a cup-like configuration comprising a cylindrical hollow base portion 110 and an outwardly flared inwardly flexible lip portion 112 of truncated conical shape. Base portion 110 has an outside diameter slightly larger than the inside diameter of shaft 18 and is hollow to provide suflicient compressibility to enable the base to be inserted in the end of shaft 18 and fixedly frictionally retained therein. Lip portion 112 extends outwardly beyond the outer surface of shaft 18 and, in its normal unstressed condition, has a diameter at the outermost edge 114 greater than the inside diameter of shaft 12. Thus, when assembled, lip 112 is under compressive stress whereby shaft 18 is prevented from moving freely relative to the support shaft 12 but is slidably movable by manually applied adjusting force and will be held in any adjusted position by frictional forces. To provide sufficient flexibility to permit assembly and disassembly as well as the desired holding forces, lip 110 is provided with opposite axially extending slots 116, 118. To provide suflicient rigidity to prevent inadvertent removal of the shaft 18 and plug 110 through the necked down portion, ribs 120, 122, 124, 126 are equally spaced around the interior of the plug and extend from the rubbing edge 114 of the lip portion to the end wall 120 of the base portion. The cross-sectional configuration of the plug is substantially cylindrical in the base portion and hexagonal in the lip portion. In the preferred embodiment, the slots 116, 118 are located at opposite apexes and the ribs are equally spaced at 90 and located substantially centrally of opposite flat surfaces as shown in FIG. 5.

Since the inventive features may be otherwise variously embodied, it is intended that the appended claims be construed to apply to alternative embodiments except insofar as limited by the prior art.

I claim:

1. A ball gripping tool including a shaft member and a ball gripping device mounted thereon, said ball gripping device comprising:

a pair of movable jaw means movable toward and away from one another between an open ball receiving position and a closed ball gripping position and providing opposite ball passages therebetween extending transversely to said shaft member and leading to a centrally located ball pocket therebetween,

resilient spring finger means individually supporting each of said jaw means and being manually movable against their spring bias to the open ball receiving position and movable upon release by their spring bias to the closed ball gripping position, and

trigger means swinga'bly movable between a holding position and a release position relative to said spring finger means mounted between said resilient spring finger means and said jaw means and in the holding position holding said spring finger means apart with said jaw means in the ball receiving position, a ball engaging portion of said trigger means being centrally located between said jaw means in the holding position and engageable with a ball moved toward the ball pocket through either passage toward the ball pocket in a direction transverse to the shaft member.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1 and wherein said ball gripping device comprises only three parts, each of said jaw means and the associated spring finger means being integrally formed and being of identical construction, and said trigger means being mounted between said spring finger means by support means integral with said trigger means and said spring finger means.

3. The invention as defined in claim 1 and wherein each of said jaw means comprises an annular opening of smaller diameter than a ball providing an annular ball seat.

4. The invention as defined in claim 1 and there 'being opposite aligned openings in said spring finger means, oppositely extending support arm means on said trigger means extending through said openings, and lug means on said support arm means holding said trigger means between said spring finger means for swingable movement relative thereto.

5. The invention as defined in claim 4 and having opposite tab means on said spring finger means extending inwardly for abutting engagement with said trigger means to releasably hold said spring finger means in the open position and being disengageable from said tab means by swinging movement of said trigger means to permit said spring finger means to move to the closed position.

6. Apparatus for retrieving a golf ball or the like com prising:

hollow support shaft (12),

a handle (14) provided atone end of said support shaft,

a necked down portion (16) provided at the other end of said support shaft,

a hollow extensible shaft (18) slidably mounted within said support shaft,

the outside diameter of said extensible shaft being approximately equal to the inside diameter of the necked down portion of the support shaft and smaller than the inside diameter of the rest of the support shaft; retainer means (108) effective between said support shaft and said extensible shaft to hold the extensible shaft in various positions and to prevent inadvertent separation of the shafts and comprising:

a one-piece plastic plug-like member,

a generally cylindrical hollow base portion (110) of said member having an outside diameter slightly larger than the inside diameter of said extensible shaft and being frictionally retainingly mounted in the end of said extensible shaft extending into said support shaft through said necked down portion,

a generally outwardly flared inwardly flexible lip portion (112) of truncated conical shape extending from said base portion axially bebetween said gripping arms and movable back and forth therebetween in either direction.

8. The invention as defined in claim 7 and wherein said swingable arm comprises:

a plate member,

yond the end of said extensible rod and radially beyond the outer surface of said extensible rod into compressive engagement with the inside surface of the support rod and providing frictional restraining support for said extensible rod relative to said support rod to prevent free sliding movement therebetween and permitting sliding movement therebetween only under application of manually applied adjusting force and holding said extensible rod in any adjusted position,

said lip portion being inwardly flexible under assembly and disassem'bly forces to clear the necked down portion of said support shaft to permit said extensible rod to be associated with and disassociated from said support rod,

a ball engaging abutment portion (72) provided at one end of said plate member between said jaw means,

a support portion (76) provided at the other end of said plate member between said spring finger portions, opposite aligned openings (82, 84) provided in the spring finger portions of said gripping arms, and opposite ends (78-, 80) of said support portion of said trigger means extending through the opposite aligned openings to swingably support said trigger means on said gripping arms.

9. The invention as defined in claim 8 and wherein said trigger means further comprises abutment means (96, 98) effective between said trigger means and said gripping arms to hold said jaw means in the ball receiving position until said trigger means is moved out of the ball pocket.

10. The invention as defined in claim 9 and said abutment means comprises inwardly extending tab portions of said gripping arms engageable with opposite side surfaces of said trigger means.

11. The invention as defined in claim 7 and said jaw means comprising substantially parallel portions of said gripping arms, and annular opposite openings (38, 40) having a diameter less than the diameter of the ball to be gripped and enabling portions of the ball to be received on annular ball seats (58, 60) in each opening.

12. Apparatus for releasably adjustably holding an extensible hollow shaft within a hollow support shaft comprising:

a resilient plastic plug member fixedly mounted in the slot means (116, 118) provided in said lip portion for flexibility, and rib means (120-126) extending axially along the inside surface of said retainer means along said base portion and said lip portion; ball gripping means mounted on the end of said extensible rod and being movable between an open ball receiving position and a closed ball gripping position and comprising:

a pair of oppositely facing identical gripping arms (22, 24) having spaced opposite ends, shaft attaching means (-36) provided at one of each of said gripping arms and securing said gripping arms in closely spaced face-to-face relationship on the end of said extensible rod, jaw means (38, 40) provided at the other end of each of said gripping arms and being normally spaced from one another a substantial distance less than the distance necessary to end of said extensible shaft, form a ball gripping pocket therebetween, said plug member and the end of said extensible shaft spring finger means (42, 44) connecting said jaw being mounted within one end of said support shaft, means to said extensible shaft and enabling resaid plug member being generally cup-shaped with a silient separating movement of said gripping cylindrical base portion fixedly frictionally mounted arms away from one another to move said jaw in the one end of the extensible shaft and an outmeans to a ball receiving position spaced from wardly flared lip portion extending beyond the outer one another a distance sufiicient to provide a surface of the extensible shaft into compressed fricball receiving pocket such that a ball may be tional holding engagement with the inner surface of easily received between the jaw means, and the holding shaft. trigger means (70) effective between said grip- 45 ping arms to hold the jaw means in the ball re- References Cited ceiving position until engaged by a ball being brought into the ball receiving pocket and effec- UNITED STATES PATENTS tive when the ball is in the ball receiving pocket 1,452,679 4/ 1923 Fischer 294-19 to release said gripping arms for movement to- 1,723,091 8/1929 St. John 294-19 ward one another into gripping engagement with 2,549,257 4/ 1951 Staunt 294-19 the ball. 7. The invention as defined in claim 6 and wherein said trigger means comprises a swingable arm mounted ANDRES H. NIELSEN, Primary Examiner. 

